Health Bureau Opens Applications for Research Fellowship Scheme to Boost Public Health Skills

Applications invited for Research Fellowship Scheme under Health and Medical Research Fund

The Health Bureau today (October 15) invited interested parties to apply for the Research Fellowship Scheme under the Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF). The scheme aims to support researchers or professionals, particularly healthcare professionals, in their early to mid-career to enhance their skills in public health and health services research.

The grant ceiling per award is $1.2 million inclusive of $400,000 for overseas training. Tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) and the designated teaching hospitals of the medical schools of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU), i.e. Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) and Queen Mary Hospital (QMH), are invited to nominate applicants for the scheme. Details of the number of nomination and number of awards are summarised in the table below. Each applicant can only submit one application.

Streams

Maximum number of nomination by each tertiary institution/

teaching hospital

Total number of awards for each stream (Note)

Stream A: UGC-funded tertiary institutions

* CUHK and HKU

* Others

10

8

16

Stream B: Designated teaching hospitals of the medical schools of the CUHK and the HKU (i.e. PWH and QMH)

8

4

To tie in with the "Towards 2025: Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent and Control Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Hong Kong" and the "Hong Kong Cancer Strategy 2019" launched by the Government, higher priority will be accorded to applications that address cancer and the preventable or modifiable risk factors for NCDs, namely unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol. Subject to the quality of the applications, at least four of the 20 awards will be granted to applications that can address the four aforementioned risk factors for NCDs, with one award in each area of the risk factors.

The application should cover:

(1) An overseas training programme (regular programmes for higher academic qualifications, e.g. Master or PhD degrees will not be considered) with attachment to a reputable institution for at least three months cumulatively throughout the fellowship period; and

(2) A small-scale research project relating to the proposed training programme with no more than three research objectives.

The HMRF emphasises the importance of translational potential of research findings, and therefore supports applications on the following research projects:

(1) Clinical research including patient-oriented research, epidemiological and behavioural studies, outcomes research and health services research;

(2) Infectious diseases research with public health implications from bench to bedside and at community level and with translational value; and

(3) Clinical research based on Chinese medicine theory or clinical research on Chinese medicine theory and methodology.

Applications will be subject to peer review. Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview. The assessment will take into account the capability of the applicant and his or her performance at the interview, the importance of the training proposal to healthcare development as well as its relevance to the proposed research project. The proposed research project will be evaluated on its scientific merit, local relevance, and translational potential or value to public health or health services.

Completed electronic application forms should be submitted via the electronic Grant Management System (rfs.healthbureau.gov.hk/eGMS/) on or before 6pm on January 6, 2025 (Hong Kong time). The briefing session, which will be held on November 6, is now open for registration. For details, please refer to the website of the Research Fund Secretariat. For enquiries, please send email to rfs@healthbureau.gov.hk.

Note: The total number of awards granted will be subject to the quality and budget requirement of the applications.

October 2024 issue of "Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics" now available

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) published today (October 16) the October 2024 issue of the "Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics" (HKMDS).

Apart from providing up-to-date statistics, this issue also contains one feature article entitled "Hong Kong's Air Cargo Statistics, 2014 to 2023".

"Hong Kong's Air Cargo Statistics, 2014 to 2023"

The Hong Kong International Airport is one of the busiest and most advanced airports in the world. It consolidates Hong Kong's position as an international commerce hub and supports Hong Kong as an international logistics centre. In terms of air cargo throughput, the Hong Kong International Airport ranked first globally in 2023, at 4.3 million tonnes. This feature article provides trend analysis of the air cargo statistics of Hong Kong from 2014 to 2023.

For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the Trade Statistics Processing Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4941; email: tsp_1@censtatd.gov.hk).

Published in bilingual form, the HKMDS is a compact volume of official statistics containing about 130 tables. It collects up-to-date statistical series on various aspects of the social and economic situation of Hong Kong. Topics include population; labour; external trade; National Income and Balance of Payments; prices; business performance; energy; housing and property; government accounts, finance and insurance; and transport, communications and tourism. For selected key statistical items, over 20 charts depicting the annual trend in the past decade and quarterly or monthly trend in the recent two years are also available. Users can download the Digest at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1010002&scode=460).

Enquiries about the contents of the Digest can be directed to the Statistical Information Dissemination Section (1) of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4738; email: gen-enquiry@censtatd.gov.hk).